Fare Thee Well / Lord Byron
Fare Thee Well is an 1816 poem by Lord Byron. Fare Thee Well Fare thee well! and if for ever, Still for ever, fare thee well: Even though unforgiving, never ’Gainst thee shall my heart rebel. Would that breast were bared before thee 5 Where thy head so oft hath lain, While that placid sleep came o’er thee Which thou ne’er canst know again: Would that breast, by thee glanced over, Every inmost thought could show! 10 Then thou wouldst at last discover ’Twas not well to spurn it so. Though the world for this commend thee— Though it smile upon the blow, Even its praises must offend thee, 15 Founded on another’s woe: Though my many faults defaced me, Could no other arm be found, Than the one which once embraced me, To inflict a cureless wound? 20 Yet, oh yet, thyself deceive not; Love may sink by slow decay, But by sudden wrench, believe not Hearts can thus be torn away: Still thine own its life retaineth, 25 Still must mine, though bleeding, beat; And the undying thought which paineth Is—that we no more may meet. These are words of deeper sorrow Than the wail above the dead; 30 Both shall live, but every morrow Wake us from a widow’d bed. And when thou wouldst solace gather, When our child’s first accents flow, Wilt thou teach her to say ‘Father!’ 35 Though his care she must forego? When her little hands shall press thee, When her lip to thine is press’d, Think of him whose prayer shall bless thee, Think of him thy love had bless’d! 40 Should her lineaments resemble Those thou never more may’st see, Then thy heart will softly tremble With a pulse yet true to me. All my faults perchance thou knowest, 45 All my madness none can know; All my hopes, where’er thou goest, Wither, yet with thee they go. Every feeling hath been shaken; Pride, which not a world could bow, 50 Bows to thee—by thee forsaken, Even my soul forsakes me now: But ’tis done—all words are idle— Words from me are vainer still; But the thoughts we cannot bridle 55 Force their way without the will. Fare thee well! thus disunited, Torn from every nearer tie, Sear’d in heart, and lone, and blighted, More than this I scarce can die. 60George Gordon, Lord Byron. Fare The Well, English Poetry II: From Collins to Fitzgerald. Harvard Classics. Web, Bartleby.com, Aug. 2, 2011. Background Lord Byron married and fathered a child with Annabella Milbanke in 1815, but they separated in 1816. In March of that year, Byron composed "Fare Thee Well" and enclosed a note that said, "Dearest Bell --- I send you the first verses that ever I attempted to write upon you, and perhaps the last that I may ever write at all." In April he signed a Deed of Separation and added the following notation . . . :A year ago, you swore, fond she ! :"To love, to honour," and so forth: :Such was the vow you pledged to me, :And here's exactly what 'tis worth. Byron left England and never saw his wife or daughter again. References External links *Fare Thee Well (full text) *Fare Thee Well background Category:Poetry by Lord Byron Category:1816 poems Category:Text of poem